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Snappers and Sea Breams
Both of these groups are predominantly marine group in distribution but species from both families are found in brackish (rarely fresh) waters from time to time.
Snappers (family Lutjanidae) are active and hardy fish, but their large size and predatory nature means that they are of dubious value as aquarium fish. Given sufficient space they are generally easy to keep alongside fish of comparable size, though some species are territorial and aggressive. Several species enter brackish water in parts of their range, including the following species periodically traded as aquarium fish:
- Lutjanus apodus, the schoolmaster snapper (to 60 cm in the wild)
- Lutjanus argentimaculatus, the mangrove jack (to 100 cm in the wild)
- Lutjanus sebae, the emperor snapper (to 110 cm in the wild)
Lutjanus argentimaculatus is a truly euryhaline species found regularly in fresh, brackish and salt water at all stages of its life. The other snappers listed here are usually only found in mangroves and estuaries when young, migrating into fully marine environments as they mature. Consequently those species will need to be maintained at a fairly high salinity to do well, certainly not less than SG 1.010.
Sea Breams (family Sparidae) are similar to snappers in some ways, but whereas most snappers feed on fish, sea breams specialise on hard-shelled prey such as crustaceans, though many species eat small fish as well. They are mostly marine in distribution, but some species also occur in freshwater or brackish water environments.
The fish illustrated above appears to be a sea bream, and has lived for several years in a freshwater aquarium. It has grown and is apparently healthy, and is currently on display at the Maidenhead Aquatics store in St Albans where it lives with an arowana and some stringrays. Its species is unknown, though it is likely a species of Acanthopagrus such as Acanthopagrus berda or Acanthopagrus latus. Sea breams are generally active but peaceful fish that work well in communities alongside similar sized fish.